As Obito awoke he had a strange feeling, he opened his eye and no longer saw the inn's ceiling. He looked around and noticed he was in the middle of the forest and tied to a tree.

"Must be Danzo and his men, they're the only ones this close to the leaf able to sneak me out of the inn so fast."

Four people emerged from the forest, one of them seemed to lead the others.

"Sorry for taking you against your will, but I wished to speak with you privately." It was the voice of an older man who had definitely been to war. "My name is Danzo Shimura, I am a member of the Hidden Leaf and the shadow to Sarutobi's every action."

Obito knew who he was but he still had to play the role of Tobi, "But why kidnap Tobi? He didn't do anything wrong."

Danzo was mildly annoyed by the masked man's voice and demeanor, "It is because you are an outsider who only got in because you possessed the First Hokage's Kekkei Genkai. That is why I'm here, I wish to see it in action. I'll evaluate your usefulness to the Leaf based on your skill and proficiency."

Obito nodded and then vines burst from multiple nearby trees, entangling Danzo's three guards.

Danzo looked behind him, "Impressive. But I'll need to see more than just something so simple."

Obito used his enhanced strength to get out of his binds, "Hmm. Oh, Tobi knows just the thing." The ground beneath their feet began to shake, Danzo looked around for the source but to no avail.

Suddenly a giant wooden golem opened its palm and Obito stepped onto it, lifting him in the air.

Danzo went wide-eyed, "That's Lord First's jutsu! How could a child know, let alone utilize it?" He calmed himself, "Most impressive, Tobi. Now that is something not even I thought was possible since the First Hokage's death."

The wooden golem lowered its palm and Obito stepped down and back onto the forest floor. "Tobi is full of surprises."

Madara manifested deep in the forest, "I must say I am impressed. The wooden golem jutsu is very taxing on chakra. But not for Hashirama, his chakra reserves were so vast they even surpassed a tailed beast's."

Obito merely chuckled, "I may not have The First Hokage's chakra reserves, but my chakra is decently large."

Madara smirked at his student, "I knew you'd be a great successor."

Although Obito had large chakra reserves he still felt drained using the wood golem. The wood golem dissolved into the forest like it was never there to begin with.

Obito released Danzo's guards and they stood up nervously. Danzo would be nervous if he didn't have a Sharingan to perform Izanagi, but he was always prepared. "I must say your abilities were more than I had anticipated, that's very rare for myself. I would like to extend an invitation to join my Root division when you return to the Hidden Leaf. It's also quite rare that I give invitations personally, but I think you are quite the exception."

Obito began scratching his head, "Why would Tobi do that? He's already on a team he likes with friends. Being put onto a team with strangers would be scary."

Danzo's left eye twitched, "Regardless, the offer still stands. Just think it over and possibly ask your friend with paper ninjutsu to accompany you in Root. I will see you back in Konoha, Tobi." He and his guards dispersed into the forest.

Obito was left to sigh, "Now, how do I get back to the Inn?"

For Kakashi last night was a doozy. First, he had to go find Jiraiya after the Tsunade incident and tend to his wounds the best he could with a medkit he brought. And second was helping Jiraiya to the room for the night.

Kakashi didn't get much sleep as well, the thought of Obito being a spy scratching at the back of his brain. He didn't know how to confront Obito. There was a possibility that if he did so he would most undoubtedly make things worse. But until he did so he wouldn't get much sleep. "Dammit." It was a precarious position to be in.

Kakashi didn't sleep on the bed, he gave it to Jiraiya who definitely needed it more. Kakashi turned on his bedroll, he saw the sunrise from the window. He sighed and got up, "I guess it can't be helped." He grabbed his headband and went to the door, all he needed was a walk to clear his head. Then he would figure out his approach to confronting Obito.

Kakashi's footsteps echoed softly in the early morning as he walked through the quiet hallways of the inn. His mind was heavy with the burden of suspicion and worry about Obito's true intentions. As he strolled, he couldn't help but recall their shared past and the strong bond they once had.

The cool morning air did little to ease the tension in his heart, but it did help clear his thoughts. Kakashi knew he needed to confront Obito, or whoever he had become, sooner rather than later. He had a duty to protect the village, and if there was even a hint of betrayal, he couldn't afford to ignore it.

Obito finally returned to the inn, it took him an hour of walking in the wrong directions until he saw the inn. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he'd not have any issues going back in and taking a little nap until Konan would wake him.

"Tobi? What are you doing out here?"

Obito turned to his left slowly, "Kakashi-senpai? What are you doing up so early?" He asked.

Kakashi just glared at Tobi, "You're deflecting the question."

Obito tried thinking of a lie, "Umm, Tobi decided to go for a walk deep in the forest. He had a lot of fun."

Kakashi knew this to be a lie, so he ignored it. "I've been meaning to speak with you, Tobi. It's very important and private."

Obito felt that Kakashi knew that he was under the mask but he couldn't know unless Kakashi said it aloud. "What's so important that you'd want to talk to Tobi about it?"

Kakashi looked at him with a look that wanted answers, "What happened to you?"

Tobi scratched his head, "Huh?"

"Don't play coy. You know what I mean."

Obito took a minute to respond and then he had an idea, "So, you figured out who I was? I must say, I am impressed. Never did I think I made a mistake. Well, drinking so much the other night might've. But to think that Kakashi Hatake would've figured it out so fast, Obito would've been proud." Obito spoke as Madara because he didn't want to be bogged down by Kakashi with him trying to understand what happened but it was easier to distance himself from the whole situation entirely.

Kakashi's eye went wide, the way that Tobi spoke made him sound disconnected from Obito like someone was occupying Obito's body. "Are you not Obito?"

Obito folded his arms, "Obito Uchiha survived the boulder that crushed half of his body, I repaired the right side of his body with artificial cells of the First Hokage. And after a year Obito was up and walking, acclimated to his artificial limbs. Somehow he found out that Rin Nohara had been captured by Kirigakure Anbu. He escaped my cave to go help, but when he arrived Rin was already dead, and by your own hand. Afterward, Obito returned to me and gave his body over to me."

Kakashi recoiled hearing it from someone else, but hearing it from the masked man in front of him made one thing clear, he was Obito. Kakashi straightened himself and chuckled, "If what you say is true then tell me why you said Rin's name in your drunken stupor?"

Obito sighed and looked to the ground, that was another mistake on his part. "I guess the cat's out of the bag."

Kakashi felt like he dealt a decisive blow in the confrontation, "Why didn't you return to the village?"

Obito looked up and faced Kakashi, the crimson of his Sharingan shining brightly. Kakashi was unprepared, he was about to prepare his Sharingan but in a flash, Kakashi couldn't remember what he was doing talking to Tobi.

Obito deactivated his Sharingan and spoke, "Kakashi, I think we've walked long enough. Should we go check on Jiraiya and Konan?" He scratched his head.

Kakashi didn't know how to answer, the morning being a little foggy to him. "Sure. Let's go."

As they walked back into the Inn Madara appeared, "That was a close one."

"Sometimes a scalpel is needed rather than a sledgehammer," Obito said in his mind.

"So it would seem," Madara smirked.

They ventured to their destination toward a small village near the border of the land of grass, Jiraiya talked to Konan most of the way, regaling stories that he hadn't told her. Some of them got her to laugh.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was as quiet as ever. He was probably concerned at how he couldn't remember much within the past couple of days.

Obito just skipped along like a child. Everything would be fine on this mission, he just knew it.

A woman with short brown hair and brown eyes sat in a restaurant eating. A man walked up to her, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No thank you, I'm fine." She gave a faint smile. The man walked away happily, like he'd just gotten married.

The brown-haired woman stopped eating for a moment and pulled out a scroll, she looked at it in her hand. "Just what are you going to do with this, Kiyomi?" She thought to herself. She turned to look at all the people around her, they all stared at her lovingly.

Kiyomi had learned a forbidden jutsu that caused her to charm everyone around and cause them to see someone they love. Additionally, she could also control them, but it could be taxing on her chakra. She originally didn't know what type of jutsu she had stolen but as she's used it she's become more proficient with it.

As she looked around a wild idea formed in her head. She looked at a shrine that was reserved for the Hidden Leaf's Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

If Kiyomi was able to control a small village's populace then controlling one man wouldn't be much trouble. She could use the Hokage to do anything and everything she wanted. No more would she be forced to flee and hide from the Hidden Cloud's hunter teams. Kiyomi was now determined to make her way to the Hidden Leaf village, but first, she'd have to get some supplies for the journey.

As she stepped away from the restaurant she saw three Hidden Leaf Shinobi walking about her small village. One had white hair with his headband blocking his left eye, one had short blue hair with a paper flower in her hair, and one had long black hair while wearing an orange swirly mask that only had one eye hole. All three of them wore the same Hidden Leaf Jounin uniform.

Kiyomi panicked, "Konoha Shinobi here?!" She breathed heavily until she realized that these three would be perfect dummies to test her jutsu on. "If these Shinobi can be affected then the Hokage can as well." Kiyomi straightened herself and walked past the three who were waiting outside of a store for a fourth member of their squad.

Kiyomi created the aroma that caused others to fall under her genjutsu, the aroma reached the three and Kiyomi waited for the genjutsu to take effect.

The woman began to cough up the aroma, her eyes seemed to burn and she began feeling drowsy. The woman fell off her feet but the orange masked man caught her and felt her forehead.

Kiyomi cursed the two Shinobi wearing masks. If they hadn't then she'd be able to take her leave to Konohagakure, but now she needed to take care of these Shinobi. Whether it meant killing them, controlling them, or incapacitating them didn't matter. She just needed to make sure she would be safe traveling.

The man in the orange mask held the woman in her arms, her eyes slowly closing. "Yahiko? Is that you?" She muttered softly to her comrade. The white-haired man ran into the store, searching for their other ally most likely. An older man with white hair ran outside and saw the blue-haired woman in the orange-masked man's arms, he tried checking to see what the problem was but she seemed fine.

Kiyomi overheard them mention that they'd stay until "Konan" was feeling better.

Obito stayed by Konan's bedside until she was awake. He felt some bit of shame as he hadn't bothered asking if she got the proper sleep before they left the inn.

The door opened and Jiraiya stepped into the room, he was quiet until he sat down next to Obito. "She's healthy and not injured at least. So there's no need to feel down." Jiraiya patted Obito on the back, "Maybe she has some sort of allergy that acted up or something and caused her to have a sensory overload."

Obito was now in thought, "Now that you mention it, there was something odd. Konan looked at me and called me Yahiko before she fainted."

Jiraiya seemed to brush it off, "Well, maybe she was hallucinating. Sometimes our minds can't tell illusions from reality."

Obito shook his head, "I don't know but something feels strange. Like we don't know what the forbidden jutsu is. It could've caused Konan to be in this state for all we know."

Jiraiya didn't respond, he couldn't argue because it wasn't out of the possibility. "Until she wakes up we won't know," Jiraiya said. "I'm going to ask around about any Shinobi in the village. You should watch over her until she wakes." He walked out of the room, leaving Obito to watch over Konan.

As Kakashi stood outside the building he took a moment to think about this morning, why couldn't he remember what he was doing outside the Inn? It was all foggy, some things were clear but others were hazy.

He shook his head in frustration and calmed himself, "It's fine, I've probably just not had enough sleep."

A woman walked by and accidentally bumped into Kakashi, "Sorry." She said as she passed. Kakashi gave an apologetic expression from under his mask.

As the woman continued walking Kakashi felt strange, like he was sick. He began coughing heavily. He felt lightheaded, but he was able to discern one thing. He saw a woman with brown hair wearing a Jounin uniform, the woman turned around and she had two purple markings on her face. Kakashi went wide-eyed just before falling over onto his chest, unconscious.

"Rin..."

Jiraiya walked out of the building and saw an unconscious Kakashi lying in the street. Seeing Kakashi like that confirmed that whatever happened to Konan had taken effect on Kakashi as well.

Jiraiya wondered if the jutsu was contagious or if it was used again. He was cautious as he approached Kakashi, he covered his mouth with his sleeve.

Jiraiya tried picking up Kakashi with one hand, but Kakashi was a lot heavier than he thought. He started dragging Kakashi into the hotel.

Konan slowly woke up, she saw that she was in a building and she felt a bed underneath her. She sat up and was greeted by a face she never thought she'd see, "Yahiko?!" He sat in a chair next to her bed.

Konan saw Yahiko's face contort into relief, "Are you alright, Konan?"

Konan was confused, "How are you here? You died."

Yahiko's face contorted into confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You died at the hands of Hanzo," Konan said sorrowfully.

Yahiko closed his eyes, "I see." He sat up and walked to the door, "So you see me as him." Yahiko was clearly thinking about something.

Konan was left confused by his words, she stood up off the bed and followed Yahiko. "What are you talking about, Yahiko?"

He turned around and grabbed Konan's hand, "Don't think, just feel." He guided Konan's hand to his face but just before she touched his face she felt something, something ceramic. Konan felt a sort of pattern and realized what she was touching, "Lord Madara?!"

Yahiko nodded, "You seem to be under a genjutsu of some type, and you're hallucinating Yahiko instead of me."

Konan didn't quite understand how she was affected, "How did it happen?"

Yahiko shrugged before turning around and opening the door, "I don't know. All I know is that you began coughing and then you feinted but I caught you."

Jiraiya pulled Kakashi up the stairs and into the room, he saw that Konan was awake. Jiraiya placed Kakashi on the bed that Konan once laid. He turned his attention to Konan, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I just awoke from a nap, but I see Tobi as Yahiko for some strange reason."

Jiraiya nodded, "Whatever jutsu it was is now affecting Kakashi. So that means our target is watching us. We should be extra cautious from now on."

Obito was very much curious about the intricacies of whatever jutsu was at work, "A genjutsu that causes those affected to see past loved ones, it's an inferior version of the infinite Tsukoyomi. But it could be valuable nonetheless."

Kiyomi watched and waited for the Konoha Shinobi to exit the hotel they had now been using. She had two of them under her control and one more would leave the Konoha Shinobi crippled, one Shinobi couldn't make a difference, at least from Kiyomi's experience.

She was a part of a squadron of the Hidden Mist Anbu, her squad was tasked with stealing the sacred tools of the Sage of the Six Paths. They disguised themselves as mercenaries to not cause a war between the Mist and the Cloud. But as they attempted to do so they were caught and her squadron was killed one by one. In a desperate attempt, Kiyomi stole a scroll and escaped while her team was slaughtered. And because Kiyomi failed to steal the Sage's tools she was unable to return to her village, she would most likely be killed by the Mizukage.

Kiyomi noticed that the blue-haired woman and the orange-masked man exited the hotel, she tailed them to a tailor. Kiyomi spoke softly, "Ask your partner if he's willing to get some food."

Konan felt a warm and fuzzy feeling go down her spine, she heard Yahiko's voice speak softly to her. "Konan, can you please ask Tobi if he wants some food?" Konan couldn't resist his voice, she began asking Madara, "Do you want any food?"

Madara turned to Konan, "I thought we agreed to get dinner when we've caught our target?" There was something odd about Konan, the way she spoke was almost affectionate.

Konan smirked, "I know, but I'm hungry now."

Madara knew that something was wrong with Konan, Konan almost sounded like a puppet. "Konan, would you like to get fitted for a dress?"

She smiled, "Oh, Yahiko. Anything for you."

Hearing Konan say that caused Madara to sigh, he activated his Sharingan and looked around for an overabundance of chakra. He saw a woman outside the tailor shop using chakra, "There you are."

Kiyomi saw the masked Shinobi go into a back room, she was curious about what he was doing.

"Don't move," a dark and foreboding voice said from behind her.

Kiyomi didn't know how or why, but she was blindsided by another ninja. "What do you want?"

A kunai was put up against Kiyomi's back, "I've come for your scroll of forbidden jutsu, and to bring you in alive or dead."

Kiyomi gulped, "I have the scroll hidden, you won't find it without my help."

The man began to laugh, "If you think I need you then you're a fool." He turned Kiyomi around and she saw the masked Shinobi with a glowing red eye beneath the orange mask. Kiyomi deduced that the man had a space-time ninjutsu ability, it was the only logical thing.

Kiyomi knew that with how close the Orange masked man was he'd be susceptible to her jutsu. She just needed to use a little bit more chakra...

Obito no longer had reason to be cautious, just as long as he extracted the woman's secrets. He peered his Sharingan eye into the depths of his soul, searching for the location of that scroll. "Ah, there it is." Deep in the forest, it was buried under a rock. Obito began to step away from the woman, whom he trapped under genjutsu. Suddenly Obito began coughing, and then the world began spinning. He looked back to the woman and saw Rin smiling back at him. Then the darkness came, snuffing out his light. "It seems I'm no better than Kakashi..."